Category Archives: Employment
NLRB: Nice Companies Finish Last
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has decided that a policy encouraging employees of an Illinois BMW dealership to be courteous to one another violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The NLRA prohibits punishing employees for discussing working conditions … Continue reading
Plug or Perish
For FVLD’s September Legal Update, Jon Vegosen writes about the NLRB’s controversial stance on some common social media policies. As Jon explains, these developments raise concerns for employers. For example, many employers have trade secrets and other confidential and proprietary … Continue reading
New Illinois Laws Affect Online Privacy
Recently enacted Illinois laws are intended to protect the online privacy of both public and private employees in the state. The Judicial Privacy Improvement Act (JPIA) is a legislative response to the 2005 shootings of relatives of a federal judge … Continue reading
Plug or Perish
Entrepreneur Magazine’s Daily Dose recently spoke with Damon Dunn about two recent cases on First Amendment protection for public employees’ Facebook “likes”. We previously discussed the cases here. Should a “Like” be protected as freedom of speech? Damon E. Dunn, … Continue reading
Posted in Employment, First Amendment
Tagged Bland, Damon Dunn, Facebook, First Amendment, FVLD, NLRB, TerVeer
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Toll of “Facebook Victims” Mounts
Although social media is no longer a new phenomenon, evidently even people who should know better still have not grasped that nothing on the Internet is confidential. What’s more, there is no sure demarcation between private postings and those that … Continue reading
Posted in Employment, First Amendment
Tagged Chaney, Cicero, Colombia, Employment Law, Facebook, First Amendment, GSA, Iniquez, Morton, Neely, NLRB, policies, Social Media
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Maryland Takes Lead in Banning Employers from Demanding FB Access
Maryland recently became the first state to ban employers from requiring prospective employees to let them access their social media accounts. The law was passed in response to protests after the state demanded corrections officers’ social media passwords to search … Continue reading
Posted in Employment, Privacy
Tagged Corrections, Employer, Employment Law, Facebook, Maryland, password, Privacy, Social Media
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Homeless Hotspots Create PR and Wage Controversies
Digital media opens up a world of possibilities for marketers but also can lead to PR nightmares when creative campaigns backfire by losing touch with real-world sensibilities. The marketing agency BBH recently sparked an online debate by hiring homeless people to … Continue reading
Posted in Advertising, Employment
Tagged BBH, Fair Labor Standards Act, FLSA, Homeless Hotspots, marketing, minimum wage, public relations, South by Southwest, Wi-Fi
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SEC: “Like” Button Could Violate Securities Rules
The SEC starts off 2012 by cracking down on investment advisers using social media to sell phony securities or commit other frauds. First, the agency instituted proceedings against a Lyons, Illinois man accused of offering $500 billion in fictitious securities … Continue reading
Posted in Advertising, Employment, Fraud
Tagged Anthony Fields, broker-dealers, FINRA, Fraud, investment advisers, LinkedIn, NFA, RIA, SEC, securities, Social Media
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Another Teacher Disciplined for Facebook Posts
A first grade teacher in Paterson, New Jersey who described herself online as “a warden for future criminals” should be fired, according to an administrative law judge. The state’s education commissioner will decide whether to accept the ALJ’s non-binding ruling. … Continue reading
Posted in Blogging, Employment, First Amendment
Tagged Facebook, First Amendment, Jennifer O'Brien, Natalie Munroe, teacher, Warden
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Blackberry Outage Causes Drop in Car Crashes?
Police in Abu Dhabi and Dubai are reporting that traffic accidents in their jurisdictions dropped 40 and 20 percent, respectively, during the Blackberry service outages last week. The director of the Abu Dhabi Police traffic department is quoted as saying … Continue reading
Posted in Employment
Tagged Abu Dhabi, Blackberry, Driving, Dubai, Smartphones, Texting, Traffic
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Actress Sues IMDb for Revealing Age
An anonymous actress has sued Amazon and its subsidiary film site, IMDb.com, claiming they used her credit card information to obtain and publish her age (she is about 40). She claims she suffered a “double-whammy” because filmmakers won’t let her … Continue reading
Posted in Advertising, Employment, Privacy
Tagged Actress, Amazon, consumer protection, First Amendment, Fraud, IMDb, Jane Doe v. Amazon.com, Privacy, Washington
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Plug or Perish: Social Media for Financial Firms
FVLD attorneys Jeffrey Kopiwoda and Seth Stern wrote a guest post for the Propel Growth Blog about the numerous legal concerns facing financial firms using social media, including NFA and FINRA regulations that impose obligations beyond those affecting other businesses. … Continue reading
Posted in Advertising, Blogging, Employment
Tagged Advertising, CFTC, financial firms, FINRA, futures, introducing brokers, NFA, regulations, Social Media, traders
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Screening Job Applicants on Facebook
Our Firm has written about the risks of screening job applicants via social media but recent reports indicate that employers are willing to take their chances. A new survey offers insight on how employers are using social media to screen job applicants. … Continue reading
Posted in Employment
Tagged Employment, Facebook, FTC, job applicants, screening, Social Intelligence, Social Media
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Answer Critics Without Landing in Court
A recent Maritz Research poll found that social media users are not just venting when they take to the internet to complain about overcooked dinners and rude cashiers. They expect a response. The poll shows that 83 percent of Twitter … Continue reading
Posted in Advertising, Defamation, Employment
Tagged Advertising, Complaints, Defamation, Employment, Maritz, Reviews, Social Media, Twitter, Yelp
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NLRB Orders Reinstatement of Fired Nonunion Facebook Posters
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is continuing its campaign against employers who retaliate against employees for social media posts complaining about their jobs. This time the NLRB charged a nonunion nonprofit corporation, Hispanics United of Buffalo, Inc., which fired … Continue reading
